All posts for the month April, 2013

The latest Nintendo direct has begun and straight off the mark Mario and Luigi: Dream Team Bros. will be released in Europe this summer, July 12 for the Nintendo 3DS. Flanked by Mario and Luigi, Satoru Iwata talks about the game, you check out the trailer here. Are you looking forward to this game?

New Nintendo Direct focuses on the increasing roster of Nintendo 3DS games scheduled for release in 2013

In a new Nintendo Direct video announcement today, Nintendo revealed a whole host of news in relation to Nintendo 3DS. Topping the list for many gamers is a new Nintendo 3DS game in The Legend of Zelda series set in the world of The Legend of Zelda: A Link to the Past. The game is scheduled to launch towards the end of the year in Australia and New Zealand. Fans will also be excited to hear that a new game in the Yoshi’s Island series is being developed for Nintendo 3DS.

In keeping with the Year of Luigi theme, this Nintendo Direct announcement featured additional information on upcoming Nintendo 3DS games starring Luigi, including Mario & Luigi: Dream Team Bros., Mario Golf: World Tour, and a new instalment in the Mario Party series. On Wii U meanwhile, further details were released on New Super Luigi U, due for release this winter in Australia and New Zealand.

A new game in The Legend of Zelda series: Nintendo developers are working on a new game set in the world of The Legend of Zelda: A Link to the Past, which launched for Super NES in 1992. The game makes use of the 3D abilities of Nintendo 3DS, and allows Link to become a drawing and move within walls. A 3D video of the new game is now available in the Nintendo eShop for Nintendo 3DS. The game is scheduled to launch towards the end of the year.

A new Yoshi’s Island game: The third instalment in the beloved franchise is making its way to Nintendo 3DS. Yoshi and Baby Mario are back with flutter jumps, ground pounds and egg throws, plus a host of new actions that use the unique features of Nintendo 3DS. More details about the game, as well as launch timing, will be announced in the future.

Mario & Luigi: Dream Team Bros.: The game takes place on a mysterious island and challenges Mario to go between the real world and Luigi’s dreams to rescue Princess Peach. The game will be available in stores and in the Nintendo eShop for Nintendo 3DS on 13th July.

Donkey Kong Country Returns 3D: This handheld update of the original smash-hit for Wii adds eight new stages that players can enjoy after they have completed the main game, as well as a New Mode optimised for handheld play with new items and mechanics. The game launches in stores and in the Nintendo eShop for Nintendo 3DS on 25th May.

Mario and Donkey Kong: Minis on the Move: This Nintendo eShop exclusive challenges players to place tiles on the bottom screen to guide the Mini characters to their goal on the top screen. The game offers more than 180 stages in four different modes. Players can also create and upload their own stages, and play those created by other players around the world. The game will launch on 9th May.

Mario Golf: World Tour: Players who connect their Nintendo 3DS systems to the Internet can play competitive real-time multiplayer matches against others across the globe. They can also use the community feature to find others to play golf with. The game is scheduled to launch this winter in Australia and New Zealand.

Two games in The Legend of Zelda series for Virtual Console: The Legend of Zelda: Oracle of Ages and The Legend of Zelda: Oracle of Seasons are headed to the Virtual Console service for Nintendo 3DS. The games were originally developed by Capcom and released on Game Boy Color in 2001. The games are interconnected, as playing one unlocks secrets in the other. The games are scheduled to launch in the Nintendo eShop for Nintendo 3DS on 30th May.

Party like it’s the Year of Luigi: A new game in the Mario Party series is scheduled to launch for Nintendo 3DS this summer in Australia and New Zealand. The game features seven different game boards, each with its own set of rules. The game offers 81 new minigames that test speed, concentration and luck. In addition to the board game elements, players will be able to play minigames exclusively or try their hand at AR Card games and a lot more.

Bravely Default (temp. title): Nintendo has revealed the game will be released in Australia and New Zealand later this year.

Professor Layton and the Azran Legacy: The third game in the second Professor Layton trilogy sees the Professor travelling the world, solving the riddles of an ancient civilisation. The game will be released in Australia and New Zealand later this year.

A Nintendo eShop trio from LEVEL-5: LEVEL-5 has assembled a collection of Japan’s top developers to create original games that will be headed to the Nintendo eShop for Nintendo 3DS soon. THE STARSHIP DAMREY, from Kazuya Asano and Takemaru Abiko, puts players in a suspenseful adventure where they will have to search for any information available to discover the truth about their circumstances. In BUGS vs. TANKS! from Mega Man creator Keiji Inafune, players control a tiny customisable tank in battle against swarms of giant bugs. In Kaz Ayabe’s ATTACK OF THE FRIDAY MONSTERS! A TOKYO TALE, players will take the role of a young boy who lives where the giant monsters from the TV shows of Japan’s 1970s come to life every Friday.

Wii U News

EarthBound: Available since March as one of the NES 30th Anniversary Virtual Console games in Japan, the game is set to release in Australia and New Zealand on Wii U Virtual Console, with a launch date to be announced at a later date. The original game was created by Shigesato Itoi for the Super NES, but was never released in Australia or New Zealand.

New Super Luigi U: Wii U owners who purchase this downloadable content for New Super Mario Bros. U (a copy of the game is required) will get 82 updated courses and a new adventure featuring Luigi, who can jump higher than Mario, yet has trouble stopping after a dash. Many stages start with only 100 seconds on the timer, and quicker stages are populated with many obstacles. New Super Luigi U is scheduled to be released this winter in Australia and New Zealand during the Year of Luigi.

Wii U Autumn System Update: Next week’s update will add new functions and enhance existing ones, in addition to launching the Virtual Console service and a free demo of Wii U Panorama View. It shortens loading times when switching between applications or returning to the Wii U Menu.

Pikmin 3: In addition to new Rock Pikmin, the new game also introduces flying Winged Pikmin that follow the player and can carry items in the air. The game will be launching in just a few months, so stay tuned!

Game Informer has also announced that the Nintendo 3DS will also be receiving a Batman title. The Nintendo 3DS version of the game called Batman: Arkham Origins Blackgate. Blackgate is said to be a completely separate experience and takes place after the events of Arkham Origins. The game is being developed by Armature Studio which consists of several of the leads from the Metroid Prime trilogy. Batman: Arkham Origins Blackgate is set to be a 2.5-D Metroid-style exploration action game and launches the same day as the home console version.

Game Informer has announced that Warner Bros. Games Montreal is developing Batman: Arkham Origins. The team has taken over from series producer Rocksteady and are using a modified version of the Unreal engine to capture the look and feel of the series. The game is set to take place before both of the previous Arkham titles and features a younger Bruce Wayne who encounters many of the series protagonists for the first time. Batman: Arkham Origins releases October 25, 2013 on Wii U, Playstation 3, Xbox 360, and PC.

Emile Pedneault, who is one of the game designers on the Wii U version of Deus Ex: Human Revolution, believes that the game looks even sharper than the PC version. Pedneault was pressed to go into more detail about performance differences, but he would only say that the team had perfectly optimised the game’s engine, and that the Wii U hardware had “helped” with that task. Pedneault also said that they are not looking to incorporate any of the changes created for the Wii U version into the Xbox 360, PlayStation 3, or PC versions of the game.

“Right now, this is the best-looking Deus Ex. It’s even sharper than the PC version.”

“Pedneault said the team is not currently planning to institute any changes made for the Director’s Cut into the Xbox 360, PS3, or PC versions of the game.”

Emile Pedneault, one of the game designers working on Deus Ex: Human Revolution Directors Cut, has revealed that the newly revamped game and its boss fights are all down to player feedback. Pedneault says that the team has listened closely to the fans gripes with the original game – which was released back in 2011 – and have come up with the new and improved Directors Cut.

“We listen to feedback, 80% of everything that is new in the Wii U version is based upon what players had to say, and we know that the boss fights got the biggest criticism.”

On a recent episode of Game Grumps, Banjo-Kazooie composer and former Rare staff member Grant Kirkhopesays he keeps wishing that all ex-Rare staffers would unite, form a company and ask Nintendo to give them the funds needed to make Banjo 3 for Wii U. While it would be a dream come true for many fans of the series, the mentioned scenario is highly unlikely, as Rare is a subsidiary of Microsoft Studios, which also owns the Banjo IP.

The latest game in the series, Banjo-Kazooie: Nuts & Bolts, was released in 2008 for the Xbox 360 and, partly because its gameplay and story, it wasn’t considered a direct sequel to the first two games, both of which were originally released for Nintendo 64.

“I keep wishing that all the ex-Rare staffers would just get together and form a company, and go to Nintendo and say ‘give us…

Collecting Smiles, the developers behind Colors 3D, have announced that they’re planning to release a major update for the application on April 5th. The update will be absolutely free and will offer a ton of new functionality for the popular application. Here’s a list of the features that will be available in the April 5th update.

• Follow your favorite artists in the gallery to make sure you don’t miss any of their paintings
• Customize your Nintendo 3DS button setup to streamline your painting flow
• Use the new search-bar to easily find paintings of your favorite topics
• Filter paintings in the gallery based on if they used a reference photo not – only want to see original works? No problem
• See what tools you and others used to create a painting – and find out who spent over 30 hours on a single work! • Get…

Epic Games has finally revealed its latest demo titled Infiltrator which is running on the company’s Unreal Engine 4. Epic Games have yet to announce which consoles the engine will run on, but they have previously said that the engine will be scalable to accommodate various platforms. The demo runs on a single GTX 680, which is the same hardware as the Elemental demo and the Samaritan demo.